Larry Fink founded the firm in 1988 with $5 million in credit after losing $90 million at First Boston. The company began as Blackstone Financial Management backed by Peter Peterson of The Blackstone Group.
BlackRock acquired State Street Research & Management for $375 million in August 2004 and Barclays Global Investors for $13.5 billion in February 2010. The firm purchased Global Infrastructure Partners in January 2024 for $12.5 billion and HPS Investment Partners in December 2024 worth $12 billion.
BlackRock reported $12.53 trillion in assets under management as of the 30th of June 2025 according to official filings. Revenue grew from $1.191 billion in 2005 to over $20 billion by 2024 while employee numbers expanded to 21,100 staff members.
West Virginia banned BlackRock in June 2022 due to ESG advocacy against fossil fuels while Louisiana removed $794 million in October 2022 citing support for green energy initiatives. Florida divested $2 billion worth of investments in December 2022 following similar concerns regarding environmental factors.
The Federal Reserve chose BlackRock to manage two corporate bond-buying programs in March 2020 responding to the COVID-19 pandemic including a $500 billion Primary Market Corporate Credit Facility. The contract released publicly on the 26th of May 2020 limited earnings to no more than $7.75 million per year for managing the main portfolio.